Locomotive stoker



E. A. TURNER 1,825,106

LOCOMOTIVE sToKER Filed July 8, 1926 Sept. 29, 1931.

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 "NH Ill" law/iron @710/167 jib 171 71 M I MWQW Sept. 29, 1931. E. A. TURNER 1,825,106

LOCOMOTIVE STOKER Filed y 8. 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 blast issuing from the box E;

Patented Sept. 29, 1931 U ED PATENT omen Enwrn ARCHER wanna-or mirsBUReH EmvsYLvAmA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE A8- 'SIGNMENTS, To THE STANDARD s'roxn CORPORATION OF DELAWARE Locouo'nvn sroinm "Application filed July 8, 1:526. Serial No. 121,109.

This invention relates to locomotive stokers of the type wherein conveyors bring the coal-from the tender to thelocomotive and raise it to a suitable elevation for scafttering over the grates, and hasi'for its principal obj ects to simplify thestructure, to reduce the number of parts, to move the fuel along with a direct route and to provide a light, small organization that can be readily applied to locomotives both new and old andwill entime the rigors of service,

Further objectsandadvantages of the in vention will appear as the description. is read in connection with the accompanying drawings in which i Fig. 1 isan elevation of a backheadof the locomotive with the stoker applied thereto;

Figs; 2 and 3 are sectional viewstakenon, the lines 22 and 3-'3'of Fig. 1, respective- Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line z 3 5 of Fi The backhead of the .locomotivegenerally indicated by in Fig. 1 is made up of. the

back sheet 11, (Figs. 2and 3), the front sheet.

12, and the mud ring 13. Asindicatedin F ig.;2, this backhead frequently inclines forwardly and upwardly.

The grates are generally indicated at 14 and the firing opening is shown at 15 as being formed by flanges 16 and 17 of the sheets 11 and 12 overlapped and secured together at 18. One side wall of the cab is indicated at 19 in Fig. 2 and a deck is shown in that Fig ure at 20.

The stoker, generally speaking is composed of a transfer conveyor A which serves to bring the fuel from the tender to the locomotive, an upwardly and outwardly inclined elevating conveyor B, which delivers "the fuel to a swinging chute C and the chutein turn delivers the fuel onto a firing plate D from which it is blown over the grates by a steam The transfer conveyor, sometimes called the tender unit, may be of any particular. form desired and is here illustrated as com;

portion of the v Fig. 4 is sectionalviewofa fragment of the stoker taken on line 44 of Fi g. 2; and.

-waving shower over the grates. ,tion may. be accomplished in a variety of ways.

3 COMPANY rim, on NEW 20121:, n. Y, AV

prising a casing 21 within which is rotatably end of which is journaled in roller bearings I carried by a cage 28 which has a flanged upper end 29 seated upon a shoulder 50., at the bottom of the elevator casing. Upon the cage is a disk 31, which is held in placeby the split ring 32 and the latter is protected by the dust ring 33. v 1 1 The side portion 24, and thecurved portion of the eleva'torcasing are held in place by bolts or studs 34 in order that they may be readily removable when it is desired to dismount'the elevator screw and it will be readily seen that by a slight upward and then lateral movement,the screwcan be dismounted after those portions of the casing have been removed. p The housing or box 35, substantially rec tangularv inform and open at its front side,

forms the upper portion of the stoker casing and is provided at its rear side with an opening 36 corresponding .to the firing opening 15 and adapted to be closed by the conventional or any preferred form of fire doors.

The chute C is mounted upon the shaft 37 journaled in this box and projecting across a pocket in the uperleft hand corner thereof. By oscillating the shaft 37, the chute C may be made to swing back and forth and thereby play the stream of coal across the distributing plate B and hence cause it to be scattered in a This oscilla.

As shown, an arm 38 loosely mountedon the shaft, is connected with a link 39, operated-by a bell crank lever 40 which in turn is loperaite d'by a rod 41 connected by a pin 42 and a crank 43 with a shaft 44 driven by a worm gear 45. Integral with the arm 38 is a notched segment 46 adapted to receive a latch 47 carried by an arm 48 fixed to the shaft 37. The latch 47 has two arms 49 and 50, the latter cooperating with the segment 46 and the former cooperating with the fixed segment 51 or a notch 52 carried by the side of the box 35.

By this means the chute may be connected with the rocking mechanism to swing back and forth and direct the stream of coal on the grate or it may be set in a selected position to direct the stream of coal to one side or the other side or the intermediate portion of the fire box or it may be set as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 entirely above the firing opening and out of the way of the fireman in hand firing. The left side of the chute is provided with an upward extension C which will receive the coal from the spout when the chute is in a position to deliver coal to the righthand portion of the distributing plate.

The box 35, and the body portion 23 of the elevator casing are here shown as formed in one integral casting having two flanges (Fig. 2) 53 and 54 firmly secured to the backhead adjacent to the margins of the firing opening. At the lower portion of the casing, there is a pad 55 for the attachment of a bracket 56 which in turn is secured to a flange 57 on the bottom of the mud ring 13. It is thus seen that this casing forms the base and mounting frame for the stoker and the means by which the engine unit is mounted upon the backhead of the locomotive.

At the lower end of the casing, there is a rearwardly projecting tubular portion 58 connected with the casing 21 of the transfer conveyor by the universal joint 59.

The removable side portion 24 of the elevator casing is slotted as best shown in Fig. 5 at 60 to form a lengthwise pocket for localizing foreign substances that tend to obstruct the movement of the screw. This pocket is made accessible by the removable door 61 held in place by the eccentric lugs 62 and bolts 63.

The spout 26 may be in one piece with the curved section 25 or may be welded to the wall of the box 35.

The conveyors may be driven in any suitable manner but the simplest and preferred construction is as here shown which comprises a relatively high speed multi-cylinder engine 65 located beneath the deck 20 and on the left side portion of the locomotive and above the frame. The base casting has a transverse bore (Figs. 2 and 4) 66 aligned with the crank shaft and in which are mounted the worms 67 and 68 cooperating respectively with a worm gear 69 connected by suitable shafting with the transfer screw 22 and a worm gear 70 mounted on the elevator screw 27.

The worm 68 is equipped with circular portions 71 and 7 2 and polygonal portions 73 and 74. To the right of the polygonal portion 73 is a. reduced cylindrical portion 75 journaled at its end in a roller bearing carried by the cap 77.

The crank shaft 78 of the engine 65 is j ournaled in a roller bearing 7 9 and provided with a polygonal portion 80 which is connected with the polygonal portion 74 by a sleeve 81 journaled in the bore 66 on a soft metal bearing 82.

The worm 67 is loose upon the cylindrical portion 75 and may be connected for rotation with the worm 68 by a clutch sleeve 84 slidably mounted within the soft metal bearing 85. This sleeve 84 may be shifted by a crank 87 under the control of a hand lever 88 (Fig. l).

The worm wheel 45 (Fig. 2) described in connection with the oscillating mechanism is driven by a worm 45a 0n shafting connecting the worm wheel 69 with the transfer screw 22.

The distributor plate D is mounted on the bottom of the firing opening 15 and held in place by a hook 89 (Fig. 2) cooperating with a lug 90 projecting upwardly and rearwardly within the bottom of the box The heaviest portion of the plate B is at the front and hence gravity will tend to hold the front end of the plate down and when inclined as here shown tend to move it forwardly. The hook 89 thus cooperates with the action of gravity to hold the plate in normal position. The bottom portion of the plate is provided with flanges 91 fitted at the lower edges 95 to the bottom of the firing opening which also results in an engagement between the plate and the backhead preventing rearward movement of the plate until the front has been raised against the action of gravity.

Between the flanges 54, (Fig. 2) by which the casing of the stoker is secured to the backhead and the lug 90, the casing is provided with ports 92 for admitting air beneath the distributing plate. The spaces between the flanges 91 form passages thru which this air is allowed to move and hence assist in keeping the plate cool.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that I have provided an extremely simple organi zation of parts that can be manufactured in such light weight and such compact form as to be readily applicable to locomotives of all types. The use of a housing frame binds a locomotive unit into a rigid entity which holds all of the operating parts in proper position, prevents binding of the bearings and the like. The engine 65 may be mounted upon a flange 94 on this casing though in some instances it may be desirable to give it some support upon the locomotive frame.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a stoker for use and in combination with a locomotive including a backhead having a firing opening leading into the firebox, and a tender behind the locomotive, the comuses-ace bination of a transfer conveyor bringing fuel from the tender to the locomotive and located substantially along the center line thereof, and a single elevator receiving fuel from the transfer conveyor and extending upwardly and outwardly in a substantially straight line from the center line of the locomotive to a point adjacent said firing opening and thence turning inwardly toward the firing opening, said elevator including a screw the lower end of which extends below the forward end of the transfer conveyor to receive fuel directly therefrom. V

2. In a stoker for use and in combination with a locomotive including a backhead having a firing opening leading into the firebox,

and a tender behind the locomotive, the com bination of a transfer conveyor bringing fuel from the tender to the locomotive, a box embracing the firing opening and extending rearwardly from the backhead, a single elevator conduit receiving from the conveyor and extending upwardly and outwardly in' a substantially straight line from a point below and substantially in vertical alignment with the box to a point adjacent one side thereof, and thence inwardly into the box adj acent to the firing opening, a chute in the box receiving fuel from the elevator conduit and.

passing it toward the firing opening, and elevating means within the conduit, said elevating means including a screw the lower end of which extends below the forward end of the transfer conveyor to receive fuel directly" therefrom.

3. In a locomotive stoker, the combination of a substantially horizontal transfer conveyor adapted to bring fuel from the tender to the locomotive, a single elevator including a conduit extending from the delivery end of the transfer conveyor upwardly and outwardly in a substantially straight line and thence curved inwardly, an elevating screw rotatably mounted within the substantially straight portion of the conduit, said portion having a removable wall section and said curved portion having a removable wall section on the outer side of the curve whereby the elevating screw may be readily removed from the conduit.

4. In a stoker for use and in combination with a locomotive including a backhead having a firing opening leading into the firebox, and a tender behind the locomotive, the combination of a transfer conveyor bringing fuel from the tender to the locomotive, a unit including a box adapted to embrace the firing opening and an elevator conduit comprising a straight section and a curved portion, the straight section extending from a point below and substantially in vertical alignment with the firing opening upwardly and outwardly to one side of said box, and the curved portion forming a continuation of the 5 straight section and curving inwardly into the c'eivin g fuel- I transfer conveyor and extending upwardly boxfan damning screw Matabl3 {mounted withfm the conduit, anoutersection of the portion ofthe conduit andaeorresponding'section of the upwardly andoutwatdlyextending straight section of the condui-tqheing'iietachable to facilitate the emplacement and removal of the elevating screw. 5. In I. for-use andfincombination with a locomotiveincluding a cab, a deck, a having a firing opening leading intothe fire box and a tender behind the 10- wrndtive, the combination of a single elevator extending from below the deck of the 10- eomotive alongthe backhead in a substantially straightline to a point adjacent to the firingopcningand thence turning inwardly and delivering fuel laterally towards the upper portion of the firing open ing, and a single transfer conduit located substantially along the center line of the tender and extending to and delivering endwise to the lower end of the eievator, and means to fixel along the said conduit.

-61 In a stoker for use and in combination having a firing opening leading into the firebox and a tender behind'the locomotive,

the -combination of a fuel transferring conveyor located below the-floor of the tender and snibstantially along the center line there of bringing fuel from the tender to :the locomotive, a box'hehind the firing opening and communicutin withit,a single elevator reircctly "from the end of the alongthe b'ackhead in a substantially straight line to one side of said box, a chute receiving the fuel from the'elevator and passing it toward the firing opening, means for mounting and swinging the chute to oscillate in substantially a vertical plane and transversely to the direction the fuel is passed, and means for distributing the fuel passed I by the chute.

7. In a stoker for use and in combination with a locomotive including a backhead having a firing opening leading into the firebox, and a tender behind the locomotive, the combination of a transfer conveyor bringing fuel from the tender to the locomotive, a housing embracing the firing opening, a single elevator receiving from the conveyor and extending upwardly and outwardly and then inwardly toward the firing opening and delivering to the housing, a. laterally swingingchute in the housing receiving fuel from the elevator and passing it towards the firing opening, and means for so swinging said chute, said elevator including a screw the lower end of which is located directly adj acent to and extends below the forward end of the transfer conveyor to receive fuel directly therefrom.

8. In a stoker for use and in combination with a'locomotive including a backhead hav-' ing a firing opening leading into the firebox and a tender behind the locomotive, the

combination of a transfer conveyor bringing fuel from the tender to the locomotive, a locomotive unit, including a box embraoingthe firing opening and a single-elevator conduit extending upwardly and outwardly from a point below and in substantially vertical alignment with the firing opening, and thence inwardly towards the firing opening and delivering into the boX, said elevator conduit having a rearwardly directed opening adjacent to its lower end communicating with the conveyor and having a transverse bore below the rearwardly directed opening, an elevating screw in the elevator conduit, a screw in the conveyor, an engine adjacent to the bottom of the elevator conduit, a shaft driven by the engine and extending into said transverse bore and gearing connecting said shaft with said screws. I

9. In a locomotive stoker, the combination of a substantially horizontal transfer conveyor adapted to bring fuel from the tender to the locomotive, a single elevator extendv ing upwardly from the delivery end of the transfer conveyor and outwardly from an extended vertical plane passing through a longitudinal center line of said transfer con-- veyor and thence inwardly toward said plane, a lateral swinging chute receiving fuel from the delivery end of the elevator, and

means for so swinging said chute, said elevator including a screw the lower end of which is located directly adjacent to and extends below the forward end of the transfer conveyor to receive fuel directly therefrom.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

E. ARCHER TURNER. 

